Editing a Wikipedia Article

In a non-academic setting, Wikipedia is a website that I use quite frequently to find information whenever I have questions about random things (why do wolves howl, how old was Marie Antoinette etc.) I also frequently use Wikipedia as a student, to give me a jumping off point when I am doing research for assignments (although I do not use the website as a credible source, or as a part of my works cited list). Through completing this assignment to edit a stub article, I was able to finally figure out why my professors insist that wikipedia not be used as a credible source, or to not to use it at all.


Since I am in Human Ecology, a lot of my classes are food related but I also take many classes involved in textiles. I decided to try and find a wikipedia "stub" (basically an underdeveloped Wikipedia article) involved with textiles or fashion. I was in luck as one of my favourite gown designers Amsale Aberra (see below for one of her creations) was  a stub article. A fellow classmate Rheon Fisher chose to do her stub article in the area of fashion as well. As I had never done this before I was interested to see what the process would entail.

Amsale Bijou Gown (2011). Amsale Aberra Website [Image], Retrieved, March 23 2012,  from: URL http://www.amsale.com/bridal/bluelabel/dresses/bijou.shtml

In order to edit articles on Wikipedia, you first must create a user name and password. Once you have completed this step you are free to edit any page to your hearts content. This process of registering is good in the sense that it is easy, quick, and anyone can do it. However, the fact that it is easy, quick and anyone can do it, also contributes to the downfall of Wikipedia. The creators of wikipedia strive to have articles that are as accurate as possible. However, due to this simple registration process, an article that is considered accurate can easily be ruined by anyone. A ten year old boy who hates science can just as easily edit a science article as a scientist with a PHD can. Once I realized just how easy it was to edit an article, I was able to see how articles on wikipedia might have certain components which are not accurate, or even entire articles that are not accurate at all. Obviously when you edit an article you are likely using secondary sources to find your information. Unfortunately, adding references to a wikipedia article is not the easiest process and requires a little bit of code writing. For someone that does not care to go through this process, it makes it easy for people to plagiarize, or for people to add information without saying where it is from, as there is nothing on the editing portion of Wikipedia that makes it necessary to state where you obtained your information from.


While there are definite accuracy issues that keep articles from being considered scientific, I realized that Wikipedia does have staff specifically to review articles, as well as users that are always on the look out for incorrect information. Vandalism of articles is strictly prohibited on Wikipedia as well, which I think helps to keep the articles valid and organized. Overall editing this stub article was a good experience and I feel that by editing information that is within your field you can engage with it better. Additionally, people that are editing articles that are in your field are likely people that you could have something in common with. Through the message boards on Wikipedia you can network with people in your field, or who are interested in the same areas. While Wikipedia has a bad rap among professors, and I now know just how easy it is to edit articles, I will still use it and just remember to read the articles with a grain of salt.